Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II vs Sony ILCE-QX1

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II and the Sony ILCE-QX1, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II was introduced in February 2015 and Sony ILCE-QX1 was introduced in September 2014. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II over Sony ILCE-QX1.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Sony ILCE-QX1 over Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II has a 3.0" Fully Articulated screen with 1,037k dot resolution and Sony ILCE-QX1 has a [] Fixed screen with 0k dot resolution. Fully articulated screen makes Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting. Both models feature touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Electronic Viewfinder on Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II has a built-in Electronic viewfinder with 2,360k dot resolution. It has a 100% coverage and 1.48x (0.74x 35mm equivalent) magnification. There is no built-in or optional viewfinder available on Sony ILCE-QX1.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II features a 16.1 megapixel Micro Four Thirds MOS sensor with dimensions of 17.3 x 13 mm and a total area of 224.9 mm². Its native ISO range is 200 - 25,600 and expands to 100 - 25,600 in boosted mode. Sony ILCE-QX1 features a 20.1 megapixel APS-C [] sensor with dimensions of 23.2 x 15.4 mm and a total area of 237.2 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 16,000.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II is equipped with TruePic VII processor and can take pictures up to 4608 x 3456 resolution. Sony ILCE-QX1 is equipped with Bionz X processor and can take pictures up to 5456 x 3632 resolution.

Lens Mount

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II has Micro Four Thirds lens mount and Sony ILCE-QX1 has Sony E (NEX) lens mount. Due to Micro Four Thirds sensor in Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II its crop factor is equal to 2x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 2. Due to APS-C sensor in Sony ILCE-QX1 its crop factor is equal to [], this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times [].

In-Body Image Stabilization on Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II has a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS). This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when camera is paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

Built-in Wi-Fi

Cameras have built-in Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n 2.4 GHz on Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

NFC on Sony ILCE-QX1

Sony ILCE-QX1 has Near Field Communication (NFC) technology which simplifies the process of pairing it with other NFC-enabled devices like smartphones or tablets. It allows to quickly transfer photos and videos or remotely control the camera from compatible device. NFC can also be used for authentication and security purposes. It can verify your identity before accessing certain features or transferring sensitive data. It can be used with NFC-enabled accessories as well, such as lenses, flashes and GPS devices.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) inputs for data transfer. connector for video signal output.

Battery

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II comes with BLN-1 battery pack with battery life of 310 shots and Sony ILCE-QX1 comes with NP-FW50 battery pack with battery life of 440 shots.

External Storage Slots

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I) card slot. Sony ILCE-QX1 has a single microSD/microSDHC/microSDXC/Memory Stick Micro card slot.

Shutter

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II has Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/16000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/8000 sec with mechanical shutter on Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II, and up to 1/4000 sec on Sony ILCE-QX1. Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II can shoot continuously up to 10.0 fps. Sony ILCE-QX1 can shoot continuously up to 4.0 fps.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II ranges from -2 to +20 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II and ±2 range on Sony ILCE-QX1. You can also do exposure lock and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II and exposure bracketing on Sony ILCE-QX1.

Flash

Sony ILCE-QX1 has a built-in flash. Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Hot Shoe. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec on Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II body has dimensions of 124 x 85 x 45 mm (4.88 x 3.35 x 1.77") and Sony ILCE-QX1 body has dimensions of 74 x 70 x 53 mm (2.91 x 2.76 x 2.09"). Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II weighs 469 g (1.03 lb / 16.54 oz) and Sony ILCE-QX1 weighs 216 g (0.48 lb / 7.62 oz).

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II

Sony ILCE-QX1

124 mm

85 mm

74 mm

70 mm

85 mm

70 mm